A Fuji Moment
by Hearts Aria Productions
Summary: This is a love story, a love story about a foolish boy and the most beautiful doll in the land. You might think that a boy and a doll loving each other sounds foolish, but like I said, this is the love story of the best kind.
1. Chapter 1

_If there ever was such a thing as love at first sight this feeling would be it _  
><em>Like magic was being worked on your heart <em>  
><em>The butterflies in the stomach the weakness in the knees and everything else that came with falling head over heels for someone<em>  
><em>It all happened in one small moment<em>

_This encounter with first love? All thanks to one faithful day._

* * *

><p>"Onee-san, welcome home, you're early today." you said as Yumiko nee-san entered the room. She greeted you briefly and went to lay down on the couch. "Are you okay Onee-san?" you asked, she was so unlike herself. "My boyfriend broke up with me today, and I had tickets to the ballet show! I don't know whats more upsetting, being dumped or wasting such good tickets!" You tried to distract her and sounded entertained by the idea of the ballet "What ballet is is Onee-san?" "A very famous and classical French ballet, Coppelia, have you heard of it Syusuke?" you nodded "I've heard about it and saw pictures of a Broadway production of it." you smiled, Yumiko nee-san lifted herself from the couch "Then how about you and me see it Syusuke? The tickets are front seat, too good to waste." Before you could even answer, Yumiko nee-san was ushering you into your room to get changed "Wear something handsome, I'll meet you in the car." You obeyed, a night out with Nee-san, seeing a beautiful ballet wouldn't be bad. What pretty pictures you could take of the ballerinas, you grabbed your camera and headed out the door.<p>

_The story of Coppelia is the story of a mad scientist, who created a doll, to accompany him so he wouldn't be so lonely. He sets her out of the balcony and she is noticed by a boy. The boy falls in love with her with the scorn of his fiance. The boy declares to the scientist that he wishes to marry Coppelia, whom he doensn't know is a doll. His fiance, jealous reveals everything to the boy and the boy realizes the one he loves is just a doll and marries his true love in the first place._

The seats were front row, so close that you could see the sweat on the dancers bodies. You took plenty of pictures and enjoyed the play as much as you could, but your attention drifted. Then Coppelia appeared on her pedastol on the balcony. And you watched her and looked at her and admired her in her still composure as if you were the lovestruck boy in the ballet. Coppelia was not the main dancer and she only had a few dance numbers, but she drew your attention more then any of the other dancers. She was spectacular and more beautiful than anyone you have ever seen, movements graceful and precise. You focused your camera on her and took a picture as she finished her dance number, and it was the last picture you had in your roll of film. When the ballet was done, Nee-san went backstage to meet the director her close friend. "Did you have a favorite ballerina Syusuke?" you nodded and showed her the picture of your Coppelia. Nee-san was kind of suprised "How come its her? The lead character was a better dancer and she had more dances to do. Coppelia was beautiful but all she did was mostly just sit there and look pretty." you smiled "She looked very pretty sitting there too, but when she was dancing she was the only one on the stage for me. When she was dancing, my heart kept spinning and she cast a spell on me like no other person ever did. My Coppelia is beautiful and very perfect, she is my favorite." Yumiko nee-san nudged you "When did my little brother learn to say such sweet words. I'll tell you what, if you're interested I'll get my friend to hook you up and you can meet the Coppelia ballerina yourself." you nodded and anticipated the meeting, but when you met the director, he told you that Coppelia had already gone home for the night. Seeing your disappointed face, he gave you tickets to the next nights show and promise that you could catch her next time.

The following night, you went to the ballet again, and watched Coppelia with Taka-san, he mostly fell asleep through most of it, but you didn't mind, you preferred Taka-san over anyone else on your team. Coppelia looked perfect tonight as well, she was still when she was suppose to be and vibrant when she moved. You picked up several things about her you hadn't noticed the previous night. Her eyes were frightening blue and beautiful just as a doll's, her hands were pretty and very small and delicate, and her smile was graceful and added even more charm to her face. In the midst of her solo dance, you pulled your hand over your heart, feeling as if your heart would explode right now. Once the curtains were drawn, you and Taka-san made your way backstage. You found her dressing room, it had a big star on it with the name Coppelia across, and under that in smaller print was the name Ryoko Shirashi. As you were reading this, a woman came out of the door and was startled by you. "Are you a fan? Coppelia isn't seeing anyone today, so go home kid." "Really? Can I come back tomorrow then?" she shook her head "We're not dancing here tomorrow night. We're moving performances to Chiba and then Yokohama as part of our Kanto Region tour." "And when will you be back in Tokyo?" you asked. "Don't know kid, we'll see how the schedule plans out." When she left, you couldn't help but hide the disappointment on your face. Taka-san placed his arm around you, don't worry about it Fuji, they'll come back soon enough and you'll meet your Coppelia."

You took out the picture you took last night of Coppelia and admired it.

_My star, my Coppelia._


	2. Chapter 2

In the following months, Coppelia did shows in Chiba and other cities in Kanto. You couldn't always go to all of them, but you tried to go to the ones you had time for. You went alone all the time and admired Coppelia dancing on stage, with a hand over your beating heart. And all the time, you would wait to meet her backstage with flowers, even though her manager usually gave them to her for you. In all the months, you had never met her once, but simply watched her from afar. 

_She was true to her character afterall, just like a doll that can be looked at and admired but never attainable._

It was the last night of Coppelia's performances in Saitama, before she toured Yokohama, you were about to leave the roses at her door as usual, when the dressing room door opened. You were looking at a pair of slender fair legs "What are you doing?" embarrassed at admiring a woman's legs so close you jumped back instantly and fell, the bundle of roses came undone and fell everywhere! In the midst of your embarrassment, you looked up to see who's legs you had so closely looked at.

She was different than how she looked on stage with her long brown hair undone and went to her waist, her face wore no makeup, and the always present smile was an expression of suprise, but nonetheless it was your Coppelia. You stood up hastily and bowed to her many times "I have made such a fool of myself, I'm sorry. But I am such a fan of you, Coppelia." She placed her hand on your shoulder and you stopped bowing "Only on stage am I Coppelia, when I'm off the stage I'm Ryoko Shiraishi, its nice to meet such a dedicated fan, thank you for all the flowers you always give me." She smiled and your feet wobbled from under you, she caught you and steadied you "You must be hungry too than. Do you care to get something to eat with me?" It was late by now and not many places were open except a little cozy ramen shop. You ordered something spicy with lots of meat and thick noodles, looking over you saw that Ryoko had ordered something light with clear broth, thin noodles, and lots of vegetables. "How boring, you call that ramen? You should at least have some sort of meat in it." Ryoko smiled and ate daintily "I have to watch my figure, I can't eat recklessly, there are many others waiting to take my spot." "How can there be another Coppelia? Many of your fans would be outraged." She laughed "Fans? As if I had those, the only fan I have is you, and we haven't met properly at all." "Well, my name is Fuji Syusuke. I am a third year at Seishun Gakuen Middle School in Tokyo, and a I'm a regular on the tennis team. I have two siblings, Yumiko Fuji my older sister and Yuuta Fuji my younger brother. I enjoy taking pictures as a hobby and I love eating apples." She extended her hand "Nice to meet you Syusuke." you shook her hand, suprised at how soft and pretty her hands were. "Its not fair that I told you so many things about me, yet I know none of you." She swallowed her moutful of noodles "Contrary to what you might think, I'm not so interesting. I don't attend school, and dancing is the only thing I know how to do. I have one older brother who plays tennis at Shitenhoji Middle School. Besides ballet, I don't have many other hobbies, and what I like to eat is ice cream with whipped cream, and I don't get that a lot." she paused and let her chopsticks drop for a moment "When I'm talking like this, my life does seem kind of boring and I don't have much going on besides dancing all the time. But thats okay isn't it?" You smiled "Of course it is, doing something you love and being good at it, isn't that what we should all find sometime or another?" she smiled "You sound just like my brother now." "Your brother plays tennis too?" she nodded and a smile erupted on her face "He is a third year at his school and he is really good at tennis, people say he plays perfect tennis and that hes like the tennis bible. My aniki is really good." "Maybe I'll play him sometime." She placed her hand over yours "If thats the case I wish you the best of luck. And I'll just say now that my brother was never once defeated." in return you placed your other hand over hers "Not to brag but I'm pretty good myself." she laughed

_and you laughed just because she did._

At the end of the night, Ryoko escorted you to the bus stop and wished you a safe ride home. "Don't you go home at all?" you asked her. She shook her head "I have to be a good doll and go to the workshop to get a few things fixed before next performance right?" you laughed "Thats right." "Will you come to my next show?" she asked. "We're having a team practice, I can't go to your next show." she placed her hands on her hips and sighed "Then you'll just have to call me and congratulate me that way." she took your phone and hastily entered her number. "I'll be leaving now." She bowed and she left in the car that was waiting on the corner for her.

Ever since then, you had been texting, calling, emailing, and video chatting with Ryoko whenever you couldn't go to her shows. You were both always tired and she always fell asleep first. But you didn't mind because you knew she was busy. Even though you had stopped seeing the shows, you heard about Coppelia all over Japan. Ryoko was always on the newspapers and magazines and did TV interviews too, you would always cut out the newspaper and magazine articles about your Coppelia and put them in a scrapbook. On nights when you couldn't hear from her, you comforted yourself with these cutouts and admired the picture you took of her that night the first time you laid eyes on her. Tonight was the last stop of Coppelia's national tour and tonight was her last show as Coppelia at Sapporro. You wished your star luck and imaged you were watching her now even though you couldn't.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a casual day at tennis practice, you and Taka-san were playing a friendly doubles match against Eiji and Oishi. The Golden Pair was working on their synchronization while you and Taka were mostly just there for help. Eiji accidentally lobed at you but instead of Higuma Otoshi you just smashed it for the point. Taka-san turned to you worried "Fuji, why didn't you use Higuma Otoshi?" he asked. "Sorry Taka-san I know you guys were expecting it. But I just don't want to exert the effort. I have things to think about." "Is it about your girlfriend the famous ballet dancer?" Eiji asked from across the net. "Eiji, don't go around saying stuff like that. She isn't my girlfriend." "She might as well be since you guys talk and text message each other on the phone all day and night." Oishi added. "But we don't see each other at all. How can you call that a relationship?" you asked. Eiji smirked at you and returned the ball to you "That is what you call a relationship of the most romantic kind." At that moment Tezuka called for a break and everyone went to get some water and sit under the shade. You took a few sips of your waterbottle and dumped the rest on your head to cool off, it felt nice. You closed your eyes and let the cool breeze refresh you, but suddenly there was a ice cold sensation against your cheek. You opened your eyes, she smiled "You've been practicing hard, drink lots of water to cool off okay?" "Ryoko!" you grabbed her into a hug but stopped yourself short and pulled away "I didn't know you would be back into Tokyo this soon." "I didn't know either, but auditions for another ballet are coming up soon and they wanted me to come back to prepare for it. And of course I had to see you first when I came back to Tokyo." You smiled "Thats thoughtful of you, after tennis practice, lets go out to eat okay?" she nodded excitedly.

All the way to dinner, Ryoko couldn't stop talking about how much she liked watching you play tennis. She recited all your moves correctly and gave feedback on all the matches you played. You laughed at her when she was put of breath from talking "Now you know how I feel when I'm a fan watching my Coppelia on stage dancing so gracefully." she bumped you "I'm not Coppelia anymore, as of this time two weeks from now I'll be Giselle." "Are you nervous?" you asked her, she nodded "Very nervous, but talking with Syusuke calms my nerves, thanks for that." she turned to you with a calm smile. You blushed and looked away "So what do you want to eat?" She clenched her stomach "I want to eat soba noodles and yakitori and drink miso seaweed soup, and for dessert I definitely want ice cream!" you laughed "I think I might know a place like that."

Talking to Ryoko in person and having dinner with her was better then talking to her over web cam while she ate protein bars and had her supplement pills. And while she was here and talking and eating with you, you almost forgot what a big star she really was. Sneakily your finger slipped over and touched the back of her hand. She looked up and smiled at you "What was that for?" "I just wanted to make sure this was real and not just a video chat with you." She laughed and held your hand for a while "See, I'm real." you nodded and continued to watch her eat. You sighed "If there wasn't me around to buy you dinner every once in a while, you would never get to eat real food." you smiled and nodded "But its all thanks to Syusuke that I always have something yummy to eat." While she wasn't looking you took out your camera and took a picture of her eating. She covered her face "Thats not fair, I'm not even posing yet." "Posing with food, why would you do that?" "I want Syusuke to only have good pictures of me to look at." You showed her the picture you took when she wasn't aware "But I think the best one is when Ryoko is natural and isn't looking, when you're just Ryoko is when your the cutest." When the dessert had arrived Ryoko had slowed down a couple notches as you expected, such a tiny girl couldn't eat that much food. But she enjoyed her ice cream and relished the taste, making up for the times her manager forbid her to have any. "Are you busy next week, Ryoko?" you asked. She tilted her head to the side to think "Next week should be my week off to start preparing for auditions for _Giselle_. Why do you ask?" "I have a tennis match next week, if you want you can come and watch me play." "Really?" she asked excitedly. you nodded "All my teammates want to meet you too, because I talk about you so much." she smiled "You talk about me?" you blushed "Sometimes." "What kind of things do you say?" she asked, leaning in. You leaned in as well "I talk about how much I miss you mostly, and I talk about your dancing, and I tell them where you are at your tour, and I tell them things I want to do with you when you get back to Tokyo." she clutched her stomach and an alarmed look came over her face. "Whats wrong?" you asked "It seems that because I ate so much and being around Syusuke, the butterflies in my stomach are acting up." She reached her hand up to her heart and smiled "And the bee is buzzing around in my heart. It really likes you a lot, my heart does, my heart likes Syusuke a lot." "Do you want me to do something that will definately make your heart love me?" she nodded timidly, you reached across the table and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She gasped and her hand continued to clutch her heart, she nodded at you "That definately did it." you laughed at her "It made my heart go buzz buzz too."

You walked Ryoko to her residence, which was a huge apartment with bunches of rooms that she shared with the other members of her dance company. You looked at the grand tall building "You come from Kansai right? Must not feel so home-like because they don't have much buildings like these there." She shrugged "It isn't very much like home, but its a nice place to stay, with a bathroom I don't have to share with anyone." You laughed and messed her hair a bit "Sleep well tonight." she nodded and watched as you turned to leave. Before you could exit the gates, Ryoko grabbed you from behind "I'm not good at this because I've never had a boyfriend before. But I guess this is how I will say goodnight." you laughed and returned the hug "Now you're laughing at me." she tried to punch you a little, but you held her tight. "I'm laughing because my girlfriend is so cute." You gave her a subtle kiss on the forehead and watched as she safely entered the apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

When you woke up the next morning, it all seemed like a dream. Maybe Ryoko wasn't back from Sapporo yet, maybe you didn't have dinner last night, maybe everything you thought happened didn't. In a panic, you grabbed your camera and looked to see if there was the picture of Ryoko you took last night. And there it was, her cute happy expression eating ice cream, unaware of the camera. You laughed and reached for your phone, you already had a message. "Did I have a dream last night or did everything happen like I think it did?" it was from Ryoko. You texted her back "The same thing happened to me this morning, but don't worry. Your boyfriend didn't turn back into a pumpkin." it didn't take long and she texted back "I'll meet you after practice! Wait for me!" Before school, you quickly developed your film and added another picture to your scrapbook, under that picture, you put the caption "our second date".

Its strange how news spreads, third period Eiji noticed you were unusually happy, more happy then you've ever been and at the end of the day for tennis practice, the whole team figured out that you were going out with Ryoko. Taka-san was the first one you encountered "Good job Fuji, I knew it!" he screamed with a racket in his hand. "Taka-san how did you find out?" you asked, Inui stepped in. "Fuji, you underestimate the rate news spreads within the team, Eiji found out right away and told Oishi who told me, Kawamura, and Tezuka, and then I told everyone else." "Inui, did you really have to tell everyone else! Can this not be a secret just among of good friends." "Not to worry about it, anyone who steps out of line in this situation can have a drink of my special Inui juice!" "Then you should be the first one to drink it, Inui!" you said. He quickly changed the subject "So whats your girlfriend like?" he asked. You thought for a moment as everyone gathered around you "Shes a very famous ballet dancer, so naturally shes really graceful and has a natural eloquence about her. She eats a lot but she has good meal manners and she hands are very nice and petite. Shes very beautiful and has very blue eyes and soft long brown hair. And shes always cheerful and shes very hardworking. Shes nice to everyone and shes just very very cute." everyone swooned and imagined what kind of girl she was, but even if they tried, they would never get close to someone like Ryoko. Tezuka came over "All the regulars are slacking off and we have a match tomorrow! Everyone go run some laps! And Fuji for starting all this, you're cleaning up tonight!" Everyone sprinted off and you trailed behind, Tezuka was even more scary since he came back from Germany but you followed orders nonetheless.

Practice ended and everyone left, and you started to clean up. You hoped that you could clean up before Ryoko came. "How come you're the only person cleaning, this isn't fair is it?" you looked up and Ryoko was taking off her jacket and putting her gym bag aside "I guess it can't be helped, I'll have to lend you a hand." "You don't have to help me, I know how tired you get after practices." She smiled and began gathering up the tennis balls "Don't talk to me about that, I know how tired you are after practices too. Anyways what a good time it is for me to practice some tennis!" she picked up a racket and tried to hit the tennis ball into the basket, you watched as she failed. You laughed "Don't laugh, I am very rusty, I haven't play since I was a kid." "Has it been so long that you forgot how to hold a racket the right way?" she looked at her hand position but her face was equally confused. You went behind her and moved her hand to hold the racket correctly "Try hitting it now." She did, but her movements were too small, you placed your hand over hers and guided her movements "Hit like this." The first one went in "I did it!" she screamed "Actually more like Syusuke did it." She laughed. You grabbed a racket and jumped on the opposite side of the net "Serve them to me and I'll hit them into the basket, this will make it go by faster." She smiled and enthusiastically agreed, but as she said, her playing was rusty and she made you run around crazy trying to hit them into the basket, but you never let on that she was bad at playing. She continued to smile "This is so fun, no wonder Syusuke and Onii-chan love tennis so much, I think I'm starting to love tennis too!" "Really? Then how about we play for a little bit and loser gets a special punishment." She thought for a moment "It would only be fair if Syusuke uses one hand to play." you agreed and placed your hand behind your back the remainder of the match. Ryoko had fun and she laughed even when she lost a point and when she kept a rally going for more then three passes she would claim she was the best tennis player ever. It reminded you of the fun days when people played for fun, not just for fame. In the end she lost, not badly but lost nonetheless. "That was so fun Syusuke! You'll play with me some other time right?" You nodded "Of course I will, but now you have to take your punishment. "What would that be?" you smiled, "Sit still and don't move just as if you're a doll, close your eyes." she did as she was told and remained not moving. Even as she was now, you could still picture her as Coppelia, still and lifeless waiting for someone to bring her to life. So you kissed her on the forehead "Your special punishment is over. Was it so painful?" she touched her forehead and blushed "Not that painful at all."

Ryoko's cellphone rang, and it was her manager. They talked for a long time and Ryoko had a distressed look on her face the entire time. "Whats the matter? you look worried." you said, she shook her head and smiled "Its nothing, my manager just reminded me I have to be back at the apartments early for lights out today. Because auditions are the day after tomorrow, shes hoping I'll sleep early and rest tomorrow so I'll be ready to audition for _Giselle_." "Then should you really be coming out to the match to see me?" you asked. She nodded "Seeing Syusuke will relax me, I've been looking forward to seeing you play for a long time now." "Then I promise I'll show you a great match." she smiled "I look forward to it."


	5. Chapter 5

Today was an important match for you, not only was it an important nationals placement match but also because Yuuta was there, Yumiko-nee(who never went to your games) was there, high school tennis scouts were there, and also Ryoko was there to watch you. You could remember everytime you watched her as Coppelia on stage and you remembered all the time you marveled at her with your hand over your beating heart. And for once, Ryoko could see you now and marvel at you and be amazed at how well you could perform as well. All throughout your match she was rather quiet and sat very still just watching with bright and focused blue eyes. She didn't scream or cheer as many of your female admirers did, but she sat and watched, smiled and blushed, just like a doll, your beautiful Coppelia.

The match ended quickly with your victory, and many people came to congratulate you. But none were as fast as Ryoko. She ran down from next to Yumiko nee-san and jumped over the fence, straight into your arms. "You did it, you won! I am happy, my boyfriend is the coolest tennis player ever!" you laughed and spun her around "Because you're here I could play so well, Ryoko you're my good luck charm." You placed her on the ground, and the whole team swarmed around to greet her. Eiji was the first "Its nice to meet you Ryoko-chan! You're more cute then I imagined! How about being my girlfriend?" before he could jump on her, Oishi grabbed him aside. "Sorry about that, Eiji gets excited easily, I'm Oishi, its nice to meet the girl Fuji is always talking about." Momoshiro pushed the golden pair aside "Shiraishi-senpai I am such a huge fan! I wish I had something for you to sign, I am utterly starstruck by you right now-" Viper gave Momo a hard shove "What are you talking about? I am the biggest fan! Sorry Shiraishi-senpai my friend is so dimwitted-" Momo came back and they continued to fight. Then Taka-san appeared "Shiraishi-san nice to meet you. My name is Kawamura Takashi." she smiled "Very nice to meet Syusuke's best friend." "Shiraishi Ryoko-san! So I've done my research on you and you're a dancer, you starred inCinderellalast spring, A midsummer Nights Dream the summer following and Coppelia has been your most recent show, and I know that you're auditioning for Giselle tomorrow right? Well just a little something for you, why don't you drink this for protein and vitamins! I ensure you this Inui made special Ryoko energy drink will do you good. Will you please try it out?" Inui asked. He thrust her the glass, and you tried to warn her, but she waved you away. "It would be rude for me not to drink the special drink Inui-san has made for me." Ryoma looked at her pleadingly "Senpai, I really wouldn't do it if I were you." you nodded in agreement, and tried to take the cup away "Syusuke, I will drink this! Just watch me!" then she placed the cup to her lips and tilted the cup.

One sip was all it took, she froze instantly and he bright blue eyes kind of dulled and her face turned a sickish green color. Everyone's jaw dropped not believing she did it, Ryoko looked at the cup again in a new disgusted manner finally understanding the horror this was. You smiled and took the cup from her "Thats enough for today I believe." You decided to take the shot for Ryoko, and this time the Inui juice wasn't so bad, actually it could be considered one of his better ones. "That was delicious Inui, thanks for that." you handed the glass back to him, and took Ryoko away. It did take her a while to recover from it, so long that she had to sit down and drink a whole bottle of water before she could get over it. "How horrible that was!" Ryoko said after she was better. "Why would he do that to me? Was it something personal against me?" you laughed and patted her on the head "No, its nothing like that. Its the way he shows his affection." "But really thanks to you Syusuke, for drinking that for me! You really are amazing. Do you want to go out tonight for a celebratory dinner?" you shook your head "my teammates and I are going somewhere, and you are going to bed early to rest up tomorrow. I'll walk you home myself." It was the middle of the day in Tokyo and everywhere was crowded, it was unusual to be out so early in the day with Ryoko because usually when you met it was in the evenings when less people were around. It was hard to keep track of her because she was so petite and everyone else was so tall. Several times, you had tried to hold her hand, but people kept cutting in between you. You weren't far from her apartment now and all you had to do was just cross the busy intersection and she could be returned home safely. You grabbed her hand "Ryoko, we have to hold hands now and don't you let go because there are so many people here, we can't possibly be separated." she nodded "Right, I won't let go of your hand!" The little green man lit up and you began to cross. Ryoko walked closer to you and this felt right, the sort of thing boyfriend and girlfriend usually did. You placed your other hand in your pocket, but when you did, you suddenly realized you forgot your lucky gripe tape back at the court. "I can't believe I would lose something like that." you mumbled "What is it Syusuke?" Ryoko asked "I lost my lucky gripe tape back at the court. I'll have to look for it later on my way to the team dinner." Ryoko turned around "No, we have to look for it now, you said you couldn't play a match without it." "Thats okay I'll find it after I take you home." "I can help now, its yellow right? I think I saw something yellow back there on the street." She pulled her hand out of yours just as you finished crossing the street and went back onto the road. Just then the walking light turned red and the traffic light turned green. One moment, you saw Ryoko coming to you with something yellow in her hand and a smile on her face, and the next moment, the worst happened. There was sounds of screaming and of screeching horns, when you looked again you saw her laying crumpled on the ground.

_ She was so fragile, so delicate, just like a doll, your Coppelia._


	6. Chapter 6

For the past five hours you were waiting at the hospital while Ryoko went through emergency surgery. You were worried sick and didn't feel like you could eat or drink or go home, all you could do was wait for her to come out. Soon the doctor came out of the emergency room, and he was bombarded by her manager. "How is Ryoko is she alright?" the doctor sighed "Shiraishi Ryoko will be alright, it was nothing serious and no critical injuries, unfortunately she does have a few broken ribs and a fractured leg." Manager screamed "How is that not critical? Do you know what happens to dancers that have leg injuries? She won't ever dance again!" Doctor tried to calm her down "Ryoko should be fine to do whatever she wishes in 6-8 weeks. I understand for that long of a time for a dancer to not be training her body is a hard thing, but bear with me and I promise she will heal completely. Stay here and you'll be able to see Shiraishi-san in a couple hours." Manager placed her hand over her head "What a headache I have!" she looked over at you "And you, how much do you want?" "I'm sorry?" She took out her checkbook "How much money do you want for taking Ryoko to the hospital and keeping your mouth shut about the whole thing to the media?" you pushed her checkbook away "No money compensation please, I'm not that kind of person and I only want to see Ryoko get better." she looked you up and down "Alright, I believe you. You stay here while I go get myself a drink, my head hurts from all the crap Ryoko puts me through." She stormed off in a hurry.

Even when the doctor allowed you to see Ryoko, you didn't dare. You were afraid of what you might find when you looked into her eyes, anger or regret or maybe sadness and pain. You sighed dreading this feeling in your heart, the feeling that you were the one that didn't protect her

_you were the one that let her get hurt, you were the one that let your precious Coppelia break_.

While you were deep in thought, Manager came back from her break. "How is Ryoko's condition?" she asked anxiously "I haven't gone up and checked on her yet." she pulled you to your feet "Well what the hell are you waiting for?" All the way in the elevator and down the hall Manager made phone calls and her voice was echoed through the hallway of Ryoko's room. "Well go in already! I'm on the phone! You see if Ryoko is okay, can't you tell I'm busy?" she pushed you into the room. It was dark and there was no sound from inside, so you assumed Ryoko was asleep, you were about to close the door. Suddenly there was a small squeak from inside the room, a squeak almost inaudible, but you definately heard it. Peering once more inside the room you saw Ryoko was sitting up in bed, she had her knees drawn to her face and her hands were placed over her mouth and her eyes were wet with tears. Though her cries were muffled, you could hear them clearly. You walked into the room and closed the door behind you, and you sat on the edge of Ryoko's bed. Slowly you put your arms around her and pulled her into your chest and patted her on the head. Manager's voice could be heard clearly through the doors "Cancel Ryoko's auditions tomorrow, cancel the whole schedule for the next two months! Find yourself another Giselle, I'm tellling you, Ryoko can't dance and she won't dance! I don't know whats going to happen to her, but I do know that ballerinas who have leg injuries usually don't recover from things like this!" Manager's voice trailed away as she walked down the hallway. Ryoko removed her hand over her mouth and gripped your shirt, sobbing. You patted her on the head "Everything is going to be alright, you're going to be fine. You'll be able to dance again, be patient and focus on healing. You're okay now, and nothing bad will happen, I promise. I'll be here for you all the time and everything is okay now. You can cry all you want, I'm here so things will be okay." She stopped crying and she fell asleep in your arms. You tucked her in bed and placed a kiss on her cheek, you turned to leave. There on the table side, something yellow caught your eye. It was your lucky gripe tape. You picked it up, and turned it around in your hand to examine it "For being lucky tape, you're not very lucky at all."

Early the next morning, you picked up the newspaper, and sure enough the top story for entertainment was Ryoko Shiraishi dropping out of the role of Giselle in the famous ballet. Critics were saying how disappointed many will be that Ryoko had turned down such an opportunity and many more were saying it was her one shot at the big leagues and that she would never get a chance like this again. If Ryoko saw this news she would be devastated, quickly getting dressed, you rushed to the hospital to try to stop the paper. When you got to her room and slid the door open sneakily, you found Ryoko awake in her bed, the newspaper laid out. "You ran here didn't you? You're too late, the news runs fast doesn't it?" you grabbed the newspaper and crumpled it up "Don't read that trash and don't believe a word that they say. You're going to get better soon and I'll be here for you the entire way." She grabbed your hand and squeezed it tight "Thank you for that." By the afternoon, Ryoko fell asleep and you went to tennis practice. Everyone on the team heard about the accident and sent you back to her with gifts of flowers, teddy bears, and fruit. Back at the hospital, you could hardly find room to place everything the team sent because everyone from Ryoko's ballet company and her family sent her get well presents as well, but she wasn't awake to see how much love people sent her, you sat and watched her for a while then decided to head home for the night.

Around midnight, news erupted about Ryoko's leg fracture and the car accident. Critics wrote about her career ending, headlines came out about how a star had just faded from the world of ballet. The next morning news came about the new dancer who had gotten the role of Giselle. You went to see Ryoko every morning and tried to shield her from the news outside her hospital room, but she always read the paper and checked the web anyways. She would always be looking at pictures of the ballet and say to you _"Look Syusuke, shes a good dancer and the people love her, I don't think I would have made a better Giselle even if I had tried. I'm glad that the production is going so well, I am excited to see it."_

Then she would smile and stare at the paper with that distant longing look. Ryoko recovered fast because of her fighting mentality, she couldn't stay still for long and she began to walk a week after her surgery. She never complained about the pain even when her face was drenched with sweat from the effort she always insisted it was just walking. After a couple more weeks had passed, her ribs had healed completely and Ryoko could walk even without crutches, but because of tennis, you couldn't accompany her as much anymore and she was more distant from you. Your visits with her grew shorter and shorter as she told you she was always tired and wanted some time to think by herself. You always let her be, but one night you had forgotten something in her room and when you went back for it you found Ryoko was crying to herself. She always cried a little bit when you left because she never wanted you to worry about her pain and her sadness.

_Even though she never wanted you to hear her, you always stood outside her door and listened to her, unable to comfort her in anyway._


	7. Chapter 7

A month had passed now and it was the first show for _Giselle_ the ballet. Ryoko was excited to see it and her face lit up more then it had since the accident. The curtains drew and the dancers swept on, and finally the main ballerina. Ryoko squeezed your hand and looked over to show you a smile. The ballet must have been really good, because Ryoko had a smile on her face the entire time, she gasped when the scene was surprising and winced when the scene became too gruesome, you had never seen her so happy then if she was on stage herself. At the end of the ballet, you escorted her home, the both of you not exchanging any words but holding hands tightly. She walked close to you because it was a chilly night and you wrapped her scarf around her to keep her warm. When she got to the hospital, her smile drooped, but she struggled to keep up appearances for you. "That was very fun, we have to see the next show together okay?" you nodded "Just say when." "Thank you again for going with me, good night." She smiled and walked away alone, you knew she would have to cry tonight. You ran after her and missed her just as she got in the elevator but you couldn't wait for the next one, you raced her and went up the stairs, five flights, and made it just in time to catch her elevator. The doors opened and a crying Ryoko was standing there, looking at you through teary eyes. "Syusuke what are you doing here?" you pulled her out of the elevator and into your arms "You've been crying long enough, don't you think, behind my back, you cry everytime I leave, you cry alone when I can't see you. Don't do that anymore, I want to see when you cry, you look super cute I think." You ruffled her hair a bit "Besides, what else can a useless boyfriend like me do?" she quickly wiped away her tears and pulled up the corners of her mouth "See, I'm smiling because of Syusuke." you pinched her cheeks "Not smiling big enough." And then the smile became real and her voice became real, she laughed and wrapped her arms around you, and you wished she held on forever.

Ryoko got discharged from the hospital at the end of the month and it had been six weeks since she had stopped dancing. She was eager to get back to the stage but the production of Giselle wasn't over yet and there were no roles for her to have, for it was a one lead actress kind of play, so she would wait for another month until the auditions for the next production came out. But in the meantime she would practice and her manager made her do many things to get back to the spotlight. In that time, you had Nationals to train for as well and Tezuka and coach Ryuzaki wouldn't allow you to see her so often. But you always texted her whenever you could.

_Fujiapples: sorry I couldn't reply right away, dinner with the family._  
><em>SuperStarShiraishi: No problem, what was for dinner?<em>  
><em> Fujiapples: mom made my favorite curry! <em>  
><em>SuperStarShiraishi: sounds yummy! <em>  
><em>Fujiapples: what did you eat tonight? you better not tell me it was just your vitamin and mineral supplements again<em>

She didn't reply for a long time and you knew she hadn't been eating again, you called her and her voice came soft and tired "You didn't eat tonight again?" "Don't be so angry, thats why I didn't tell you over our chat." she said. "Of course I'm angry, you have to eat to get better, don't you want to dance again?" "I want nothing more then to dance, I have been reckless with my body and now I have to get back in shape, you can't stop me Syusuke, so don't try." you knew how stubborn she was and didn't try to change her mind "Then you're going to bed soon right?" She sounded like she was about to say something, but then there was a sound of a loud door slam "Ryoko! Who do you think you're talking to! Give me that phone! Whoever you are, Ryoko is not talking right now, she is going to sleep! And don't call again, we are very busy over here!" And with a rude click, the phone hung up. You sighed and threw your phone on the bed. You didn't dread the fact that you were yelled at, but the fact that Ryoko would now get in trouble. After the incident, you couldn't contact her for days and you definitely didn't see her, except in the newspapers when Ryoko appeared to be practicing. The headlines always read that she was recovering and doing well and that she would return to ballet in no time. But you always noticed that her face was getting thinner and she got paler and paler, her smile was strained.

After a week of no contact at all with Ryoko, you received a sudden text message _"Whatever you do, don't read the newspapers, meet me at the corner at Seigaku after dark, I have something to tell you."_

You began to get worried that something was wrong, but also you were excited and anticipated seeing her again. All throughout tennis practice you were agitated and it was hard to concentrate, for some reason everyone was giving you weird looks, sympathy looks, something you found strange. You approached Ryoma, he was usually very blunt about these kinds of things "I feel like I've been walking around all day with the words 'stupid' on my forehead. Tell me, do I?" "Fuji senpai, you might as well have. I am usually not the one to say this, but I feel sorry for you today." You were surprised at this "Why are you saying this to me?" "Have you not read the newspaper?" He went through his bag and dug one up "The team agreed we wouldn't show this to you, but I think senpai deserves to know."

You regretted reading the newspaper and you regretted meeting Ryoko tonight, because in your mind, things were spinning around and your feelings felt jumbled and in a mess. She arrived after you and almost sprinted to your side, then she saw the newspaper you held in your hand and she stopped. "I told you not to read it, I was going to explain the whole thing to you." "Is this true?" "Let me explain!" She grabbed your hands but you took them away from her, you knew your voice would crack if you tried to talk now, but you did anyways "So it is true! How could you do this to me? How could you go out with Atobe Keigo?" She took the newspaper out of your hands and threw it behind her "Its not like I have a choice anymore okay? I'm out of shape and I can't dance, I need all the help I can get and Atobe has connections that I need." "Really? Is that what your manager told you? If she told you to not drink or sleep and practice all day till you couldn't stand anymore you would probably do that too right? Anything to be a ballet star." by now you knew you were yelling and whatever you said now was going to hurt her deeply, but you couldn't keep your heart from saying these things. "Isn't the ballet star Ryoko the person you fell in love with? If I wasn't Coppelia that night would you have been a fan of a nobody? So whats wrong with being a ballet star?" "You know, you're just like your character Coppelia, you're just like a doll. You do whatever other people tell you to do, you practice when you're suppose to, you eat whatever your manager tells you to eat, and you sleep whenever they turn the lights off, and you also date whoever they tell you to. I wonder, if you even have a real heart." "You're right, I am just a doll that does whatever other people tell me to, I'm sorry I'm like that." Her hands passed over her eyes for a few flicker of seconds to wipe her tears "But I want to tell you what I came here to tell you anyways. And I wanted to tell you that I like you, more then you know. And if you will accept me, I want you to continue to be with me even through this tough time I'm having. Will you do that for me?" You took a couple steps back "I can't believe you could ask this of me after you've already agreed to go out with that man. How selfish can you be! What I want is for you to forget this thing we have because we don't have it anymore, you broke it. I hope sincerely that you and that arrogant man are happy together, you deserve each other." You walked away, but all the while you wanted her to come after you. "Syusuke!" you stopped, but kept your eyes forward, afraid if you looked at her crying face you would run to her "You're breaking up with me? We're through now?" you took a deep breath and let the tears overtake your vision "I'm breaking up with you, next time we see each other, lets just be strangers." You ran away after that, leaving Ryoko behind, only taking your grief and heartbreak with you. When you got home, Yumiko-nee was surprised to see you crying, but right away she saw your heartbreak. She opened her arms to you and _you cried the most you ever cried that night._


	8. Chapter 8

You felt like you hated her, you felt like you never wanted to see her again, and you felt getting angry everytime her name came up. 

_But its funny how the mind could think one thing and the heart could do something so opposite._

Ryoko showed up more and more in the newspaper and media sites because of the so called 'blossoming love' with Atobe Keigo, the couple could be often seen going to ballets all over Japan and eating at nice expensive resturants. It wasn't the kind of thing you and her did, and you wondered if she ever missed the simple sweet dates you had. You tried to not read about her so much, but you couldn't help it and you wanted this feeling of pure heartbreak whenever you saw her. Time passed and your wound seemed to heal just a little bit, and that was a good sign considering Nationals semi-final was today and the opponent was super tough. It was Shitenhoji Middle School, the runner up against Rikkaidai last year. You had heard rumors about all the people on their team, they were scary indeed. You were focused on tennis, very focused and your nerves seemed to be getting to you, you were going to be playing next and for once you were very nervous about the outcome of the match.

Eiji suddenly descended on you and broke your concentration, he pointed upward "Ryoko-chan, what are you doing here!" You didn't believe it was her, but looking up you met her clear blue eyes. Your nervousness faded in an instant. She froze when she saw you, and she simply nodded in achknowledgement of you. You looked away and tried to act like you didn't see her. She was here with Atobe and the rest of the Hyotei team to wish Seigaku luck in the tournament, and it was surprisingly a generous thing for them to do. Ryoma came over and seemed to read your mind "I can tell its hard for you and I remember your face well that day when you found out, but the senpai I know isn't like this. It would be good for her if you said something, she looks nervous for you." You stole a glance and he was right, she was looking concerning at you, but when you made eye contact, she looked away and she started getting agigated for a long time and finally she had to leave. Your heart dropped suddenly for driving her away and being so cruel before. "Where did Ryoko-chan go?" Eiji asked, Atobe shrugged "Probably going to see her aniki I guess, she was really excited to seeing him all week." "Her aniki? What a weird place to meet someone." Kawamura said. "Not strange at all, really, she mentioned this earlier but it slipped my mind. Her aniki is a regular on the Shitenhoji tennis team, hes the captain in fact. Hes a very strong player." Atobe said. Before you had the chance to comprehend what he had to say, you were called onto the court.

On the other side of the court, your opponent faced you with a smirk. And then you remembered something

_"I have one older brother who plays tennis at Shitenhoji Middle School..."  
>"He is a third year at his school and he is really good at tennis, people say he plays perfect tennis and that hes like the tennis bible. My aniki is really good."<br>"My brother was never once defeated."_

Without looking across the net, you knew who your opponent was. The announcer gave a call "The National semi-finals will continue with the singles match between Shitenhoji third year Shiraishi Kuranosuke, versus Seishun Gakuen third year Fuji Sysuke." you went up to the net to shake your opponents hand, and when you looked up to his face you could see all the similar features he had with his sister. They both had the same light brown hair color, the sharp and focused eyes, the determined smirk. "We do look alike don't we? Me and Ryoko?" you couldn't find the words to say anything back to him "I can see that you're afraid of me, its scary isn't it, meeting the older brother?" He thrust your hand away after he had shaken it "As well as you should be, I won't forgive you for hurting my little sister, I'm going to utterly crush you, Fuji Syusuke." He turned his back to you and took his position at the other side of the court. Behind him, on the Shitenhoji side, was Ryoko. She looked at you with concern "Be careful." she mouthed, it was the little encouragement from her that you needed to start the match "Lets end this quickly." you started with the disappearing serve and hoped to finish with a love game, but he was able to return the first one with precision and strength, you couldn't even touch it "Was that fast enough?" he laughed "Ah, ecstasy."

It took about ten minutes for the match to go to halftime. Shiraishi was leading now and you had only won one game. You were utterly exhausted while he was in perfect condition. "Don't give up, you're tiring yourself out with all this thinking." Atobe had joined the bench next to you, at this time it wasn't him you wanted to see at all "You're nervous because Shiraishi Kuranosuke is Shiraishi Ryoko's onii-chan right? Why should you be afraid of him for that?" "I am not afraid of him." you said curtly. "Well you sure play like you are." "If this is a pep-talk you're not very good at it." Atobe sighed "I agree, I actually am not. But being serious now I just want you to know that Ryoko doesn't check her phone even once to see if I'm texting her, but she talks about you non-stop. She really likes you, and I know secretly shes rooting for you in this match, she was talking about how much she wanted to see your Triple Counters, it would give her some inspiration to start dancing again." you looked at him "Inspiration to start dancing, what are you talking about?" "Ryoko hasn't danced since her accident, shes scared and she imagines the pain even when its not there. She falls because of fear, and its easier to stay down then to stand back up. Show her how to keep fighting, inspire her, she'll be watching." Atobe got up and stretched "Or you could just continue this miserable game and lose like a little girl." he shrugged and walked off into the stands. You looked over to Ryoko and saw her sitting next to her brother and she was laughing while he petted her on the head and pinched at her cheeks, she simply punched him back and kept laughing. You got up from the bench and took your stance back on the court. Shiraishi noticed and jumped down to the court as well, he swung his raquet around and slung it over his shoulder with a bored expression "Do we have to finish this boring match?" you shook your head and pointed your raquet at Ryoko "Be sure you're watching me, I'm going to show you a real fight. I'll show you how to keep fighting against everything. I'll show you a good tennis match, watch me Ryoko, only me."


	9. Chapter 9

It was a close match but not close enough. You lost the match to Shiraishi Kuranosuke, the first match in your career you had ever lost. At the end you approached the net and shook his hand, he gripped it tight "Your tennis is beautiful. That was close, you could have beaten me." "But I didn't, and it was your game. You are really good." he smiled "That was the best game I have played though, play me again?" you nodded, for sure. Though you walked off the court with a smile, when you got off you felt the world shrink and go dark around you. You went to put your head under some water to cool off, but even so it was not the kind of help you wanted. Tennis had never really meant so much to you before, but this game was especially heartbreaking. You shut off the water and watched as the water droplets drip off your hair, thinking about if you had actually tried your hardest from the beginning, would you have won? A soft towel draped over your head and soft hands tried to dry your hair "You're going to get a cold like this, its the middle of summer, too much cold water is never good." You reached up and grabbed her hands, they were soft as always "What are you doing?" you asked "trying to comfort you, I know I'm not very good at it, because I have always been on the receiving end of Syusuke's comfort." "Thats right, you're not very good at it. If you want to be useful, you could at least lend me a shoulder." She was confused "My shoulder? For what? Can't I at least cry?" she wrapped your arms around your neck and allowed your forehead to rest on top of her shoulder "You can cry as much as you want, I'll be here to shield you so none of the guys make fun of you. But cry, I'll be here." You didn't cry, or maybe you did, you didn't remember. All you knew was how your hands wrapped around Ryoko's waist and how comforting her warmth was.

After the game, Seigaku had beaten Shitenhoji and it seemed your loss in the game was insignificant, even though your pride was deeply wounded. Shiraishi told you he would help you to become better and even agreed to a rematch anytime, but in return he just wanted you to be good to his sister and take care of her. You agreed to his conditions and said goodbye to the best and biggest rivals you had ever known. To keep your promise to Shiraishi, you knew you had to ask Ryoko for forgiveness. You spotted her about to get in the car with Atobe, but when she saw you, you stopped and turned to Atobe, they exchanged a few words and he got in the car and left without her. She came over "Looks like you want to take me home, thats fine with me." You laughed "I never said that, but since you don't have a ride now, I guess you can come with me." At first she didn't follow, but then you grabbed her hand "Hold my hand so you don't get lost." She tried to say a good comeback, but instead, she sealed her lips and smiled, following you. You took the train back to Tokyo, and around this time of day, it wasn't really crowded and there were many seats open, but Ryoko wanted to stand, so you stood with her. "Ryoko, do you wonder, what it would be like if we had still dated?" she shot you a look "Whats the meaning of that question? Are you trying to get back together with me?" You turned away, acting offended "Why would I want to do that, its just a question!" "Then good, because you're the one who broke up with me in the first place." she mumbled and pouted "But still, even if its a stupid question, will you answer it for me?" she looked you in the eyes and a smile spread across her lips "So Syusuke still thinks of me like that, I'm very happy. But it would have never worked out." "Why not?" you asked. "I'm leaving tomorrow, I'm going away for a long time, to Europe to dance. Many great ballet companies have invited me overseas to learn and train because of the Atobe company, its a great thing, and I'm going to go. Tonight, is my last night in Japan." "When will you be back?" you asked, she shrugged "Probably not for some time now, because I still have a lot to learn about ballet, maybe it'll take five years, maybe even fifteen years, but no matter how long I won't stop." She turned to you "And so I won't ask you to wait for me." "But what if I wanted to?" she looked confused, "And why would you want to?" "Because, I love you, and I love your dream, and I want you to be happy and pursue that dream, and I want to see that smile on your face, even if its only in papers, I want to see it." "How can that be love? Text messages and emails, meeting through newspaper articles, that doesn't sound like love to me." You smiled and pulled her close to you "It is love, its the love of the best kind." 

_You bent down and pressed your lips against her smile, and you kissed your girl you loved, holding her for a long time, long enough to last you a million years of loneliness._


	10. Chapter 10 La Fin

_10 years later_

* * *

><p>You were reading the newspaper outside on a nice sunny day while on break from work at the tennis camp. You taught tennis to little kids as a side job during your off time not competing in one of the grand slams for tennis. It was something you liked to do because you just loved children so much. She hadn't been on the front page of a newspaper in a while, but today she was.<p>

Ryoko Shiraishi, was now a famous star in the ballet circuit. At age sixteen she was taken in as a member of Russia's most prestigious ballet groups, she was the youngest member ever. At age eighteen she got her first major lead, as the lead female in La Sylphide and the following year she played the lead _Giselle_ in the ballet in Rome. When she was twenty, she performed at the Sydney Opera House, her first major stage, and the same year danced for the Queen of England as well as the President of the United States. She was named the best Japanese dancer of her time for three years straight and broke top five of Japan's most beautiful women. Her latest achievement, she was named Swan Queen in the famous ballet Swan Lake and would premier tomorrow in Paris. You smiled and looked at her picture for a long time "_Your dreams are finally coming true, I knew you would be a great star someday."_

"Talking to newspapers are we? Since the last time I saw you, you had gotten more and more crazy." Unknowingly Shiraishi had taken a seat next to you on the bench, you smiled "How have you been doing?" you asked your old friend "Busy as usual, and more stressful with a wedding coming up." Shiraishi had become a very successful businessman in college and besides from doing so well himself, next month he was getting married. "I can't wait to go, it will be good to see old faces again." You said. "Well I didn't come to remind you of the wedding, I wanted to say good luck tomorrow at the French Open." "Thanks." you replied. "Do you think you'll do well?" you shrugged "I can never say, but I'll always hope for the best." Shiraishi sighed "From middle school and through high school, you, that Ryoma Echizen, and Tezuka are probably the only ones that still play. And out of the three of you, you're the only one that has three Grand slam titles under your belt, and tomorrow night, probably all four grand slam titles will be yours." You simply smiled "But I can see that as tennis meant little to you back then, it still means little to you now." "Thats harsh of you to say Shiraishi, I treasure tennis in my life more then you might think, because its the only connection I feel like I can have with her." He knew right away to whom you were referring "Through newspapers and television ads, its the only she can see me, as through her ballet performances on TV, its the only way I see her. I play tennis because I love to, but I win grand slams so Ryoko will always see me." He patted you on the shoulder "Ten years is a long time."

_A very long time._

It was the finals of the French Open and it was you versus the competitor across from you. You had never cared to see who the other finalist was and never did your research in on him, your ears were also shut to all the rumors about this incredible player. But no matter who it was, you knew this match had a time limit. You would give your all from now, until the clock strikes ten and you would have to be gone, you had a meeting date you had to make. The other opponent entered the court and the corners of your mouth pulled up into a smile "You would be the last person I expected to face here, Tezuka." he shook your hand "Then it is to my advantage, I was anticipating our meeting here." "I have waited a very long time for a rematch with you, but suddenly now that I can play you, till my hearts content I have some business to take care of." "Business?" he asked, you walked away "I am sorry to sound rushed, but this game has to end at ten tonight, or else." Tezuka never asked questions, but he complied right away and served the ball even before the announcer could make a call to begin.

This was the last set of the match with the scores tied, Tezuka was beginning to look tired and you could only imagine how you might look, but even though you were weary, you were exhilarated by the challenge that was your old captain Tezuka. It was going to be your serve, you threw the ball in the air and as it came down, the clock struck ten. The ball fell back down on your side of the court and the referee made the call. "Fuji, what was that?" Tezuka asked, but you only threw him a smile "I told you, its ten, I have to leave now, so congratulations on your first grand slam victory." There were a lot of cameras that took pictures and many people were yelling at you to get back and finish the match, but you knew there was no one that could stop you from going where you were going.

_You found her dressing room, it had a big star on it with the name Swan Queen across, and under that in smaller print was the name Ryoko Shirashi._

_you were about to leave the roses at her door_

_when the dressing room door opened. You were looking at a pair of slender fair legs "What are you doing?"_

You stood straight up and looked into the frightening blue eyes that never dimmed over time. "I just wanted to meet the ballerina who was the Swan Queen, I am a huge fan." A smile appeared on her red lips "I see, have you been a fan for a long time?" you shrugged "Not very long, for ten years." She nodded and closed her dressing room behind her "My most loyal fan, how would I repay you?" You took her hand gently in yours "Come with me for a little while, I want to show you something." She followed you into the dark and cold Paris night, through alleyways and damp streets all to come to a nice bench under the moon. You sat down and she took a seat next to you, for a while the both of you sat in silence, then you pulled a scrapbook out of your bag and laid it gently in her lap "This is for you, I want you to read this to me." She gave you a strange look. but she opened the scrapbook anyways, she touched her heart and read the intro you had made

"_This is a love story, a love story about a foolish boy and the most beautiful doll in the land. You might think that a boy and a doll loving each other sounds foolish, but like I said, this is the love story of the best kind."_

she turned to the first page and she smiled "You have to read aloud so I can hear too." She touched the pictures "They had their first date at a ramen shop, and she had yummy food, and she ate ice cream." She turned the page and her smile grew wider "Then they played tennis, but she wasn't very good." She turned the page and tears filled her eyes "And she ate more ice cream." In her eyes you could see she relived the memories of many years ago "Then he asked her to become his girlfriend." Suddenly she stopped and her fingers traced over the newspaper clippings, her voice dropped to a mumble "And then a terrible accident broke her spirit and she was sad for a very long time." She seemed to pause there in the painful memories, but you took her hands and guided her "Keep reading." She looked at the next pages "But she recovered, and she got better, she rose to the top. She went to Rome, Paris, England, New York, Shanghai, Moscow, and she danced ballet all over the world." She got to the last page, there was a title "10 years later." She looked up at you and you kissed her and feel 10 years erase, it was like you were fourteen, and this was the last bus ride you took with her. In the background, the lights of the Eiffel tower lit up and gave you enough light to take a picture. She smiled and touched her lips "We're older now, but yet now I feel young again, because of the same feelings I have for you." She touched the empty page "What happens to the story now?" "I'll show you." The polaroid came out and you pasted the picture under the title, with a small caption, you put "kissing under the Eiffel Tower." the picture showed up and Ryoko smiled. She leaned her head on your shoulders and turned the scrapbook to the beginning again "Read this to me again?" you smiled and draped your arm around her and began 

_"This is a love story..."_


End file.
